Dead harddrive??

Hi there, first off merry christmas!!

A few weeks ago i turned on my p.c and it wouldnt load up windows xp,it was just getting stuck on the xp loading screen (with the blue loading bar)

First i tried un attaching then re-attaching all the componets in the p.c, this didnt work. I tried starting in safe mode and this didnt work either, so i had alook around the bios and couldnt fond any way of sorting it out (i didnt really know what i was looking for really)

In the end i just decided to cut my losses and try to re-install windows from the partition using the floppy recovery disk. It completed the first 2 stages
(i assume this is the deleting/clearing existing files from the hd)
But on the next stage it just freezes and dosent do anything( i assume this is the re-installation stage)

So would it be possible to install windows if i buy an xp disk and do it that way, or do i need to buy a new hd w/ xp installed on it already?

My pc is a packard bell ixtreme. 2002-ish at has the old 133 ram and the first p4 that was released (not the winalot one they released straight after). my hardrive is also the slow basic no frills generic piece of turd that packard bell dished out with their first xp models.

Sorry about my lack of knowleged i havnt bought a pc component for a few years and i cant remeber all the lingo i used to know.

Thanks for you time and patience,

 

It sounds as if you may have a hardware issue. Maybe a bad hard drive or flakey memory. Find out which company made your hard drive (get the model number from the BIOS and Google it, or open the case and have a peek) and go to their web site, download and run the diagnostic tool as per their instructions. Then visit the Memory section here at MajorGeeks and download and run a RAM diagnostic. I think the bootable ones are best (my personal favorite: http://www.majorgeeks.com/Microsoft_Windows_Memory_Diagnostic_d3955.html - it will create a bootable floppy or CD .iso image). Choose the advanced/extended tests and run for at least 3 passes. This may take some time, so go have a few beers and a pizza. If both the HD and RAM tests pass 100%, then buying an XP disc is a real good idea. Be sure you get a valid product key with it so you can activate as required. You may have to reformat the drive to reload your Windows if a safe repair installation keeps crashing....

 

Ok so i found out that i had a st340810a by seagate, i have started downloading the hd diag tool.
As soon as i run it ill come back.

Thasnks for your help

Adey

 

Right,

I just Left my p.c running just as a "you never know" kinda thing and ive gone in there now and it has installed windows and its all working again.

What a tube ive been, i didnt wait long enough last time it tried to re-install.

Sorry for wasting your time, and thanks.

Adey

Merry Xmas all